Pocketpair has responded to Nintendo’s legal action by asserting the patents The Pokémon Company believes Pocketpair has contravened are invalid due to other games that came before it, including Ark: Survival Evolved, Tomb Raider, and even Nintendo’s own Legend of Zelda series.
As reported by Games Fray (thanks, VGC), Palworld developer Pocketpair challenged Nintendo’s patent applications which were reportedly filed between February and July 2024, several weeks and months after the monster-collecting game debuted in January of that same year.
Pocketpair maintains through prior preparatory briefs that Nintendo’s patents-in-suit shouldn’t have been granted given games using the systems and art protected by the patents were already in existence.
Specifically, the developer said the patents contravene art already in place in Ark: Survival Evolved, Pocket Souls, and its own Craftopia, as well as a whole list of other notable references, including Final Fantasy 14, Tomb Raider, Far Cry 5, Titanfall 2, Octopath Traveler, Pikmin 3, Monster Hunter Ultimate, and a range of prior Pokémon games.